Merricks hires distribution head

Merricks Capital, the agricultural credit fund provider, has appointed a new distribution head.

Matthew Kearney joins the organisation -- backed by Melbourne's wealthy Liberman family - from Intermediate Capital Group, the FTSE-listed global alternative asset manager.

There, as principal, he specialised in private wealth family offices and high net-worth individuals.

Before his 15 months in the private markets space, Kearney worked at Pendal as a business development manager.

He moved from PineBridge Investments, where he was part of the institutional and intermediary sales team.

Before joining PineBridge, Kearney spent time at Aon Hewitt and UBS.

Kearney is taking over from Paul Thomas, a managing director who will work closely with the chief investment officer Adrian Redlich, founder executive chair as an investment specialist and head of new investment strategies.

The creation of this role is part of Merricks strategy to partner with investors to formulate and deliver innovative capital solutions across its target hard asset sectors.

"As markets continue to evolve, the need for alternative sources of capital continues to expand, Paul's deep understanding of our portfolios and 25 years of capital market relationships will be focused on creating new, innovative, investment opportunities for clients," a spokesperson said.

The Merricks Capital Agriculture Credit Fund was launched in 2021 to provide capital for farm acquisitions.

The fund will provide loans of between $10 million and $150 million to farmers across the spectrum, from dairy to horticulture, for real estate acquisitions and related investments in infrastructure and supply chains.